Publication

Abstract : Titanium dioxide nanostructures are the most widely used photocatalysts among all photocatalytic compounds, because TiO2 is inexpensive, biologically and chemically stable, and corrosion-resistive. In this study, we have developed a fast technique for the synthesis of TiO2 nanowires via a facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal process. Moreover, the structure and optical properties of the produced photocatalysis were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Energy and Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDXS) measurements. Finally, we tested the applicability of photocatalysis TiO2 nanorods prepared as an antibacterial. The SEM, EDX, TEM and XRD analysis indicated that photocatalysts TiO2 nanorods are crystalline. Moreover, photocatalysts TiO2 nanorods by using water as a solvent via a facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal process were prepared in this work for the first time. The antibacterial activity of TiO2 nanoparticles was tested against E. coli ATCC® 8739™. The viable bacteria were monitored by counting the number of colony forming units (CFUs). The results revealed a significant reduction (p<0.05) in the number of CFUs/ ml after only 30 min of exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles. There was a significant difference between the number of CFUs/ml after 0 min exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles and the number of CFUs/ml after 30 min exposure. A growth inhibition of three orders of magnitude is observed after only 30 min of exposing E. coli to TiO2 nanoparticles. Further, a significant decrease (p<0.05) is observed in the number of CFUs/ml for E. coli after 24 h exposure to TiO2 nanoparticles. Taken together these results show superior antibacterial activity for TiO2 nanoparticles against pathogenic bacteria, which demonstrates potential applications in medical and biomedical fields. Finally, the one outstanding feature of this study is that we need more experimental work under different growth conditions to which we could demonstrate that photocatalysts metal oxide nanostructures are promising for important applications in water purification.